People to Watch 2018

Diane BryantChief Operating OfficerGoogle Cloud

Former president of Intel’s Datacenter Group, Diane Bryant joined Google Cloud as chief operating officer in November. Over her five years as Intel Group President, Bryant expanded the chipmaker’s focus on cloud computing, artificial intelligence and network virtualization technologies.

A U.C. Davis graduate with a degree in Electrical Engineering, Bryant began working at Intel in 1985. In her final role at Intel, she managed the datacenter P&L, strategy, and product development for cloud service providers, communications service providers, enterprise and government infrastructure—spanning server, storage, and network solutions.

Previously, Bryant was corporate vice president and chief information officer of Intel. She was responsible for the corporate-wide information technology solutions and services that enabled Intel’s business strategies for growth and efficiency.

A tireless advocate for women and underrepresented minorities, Bryant has served as the executive sponsor of the Network of Intel African American Employees and on the technical board of the Anita Borg Institute. She was named among Fortune’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business in 2015 and 2016. Also in 2016, World Affairs and its Global Philanthropy Forum honored Bryant with its Global Citizen Award. Business Insider ranked Bryant #32 in the list of “Silicon Valley 100” of 2016. She is an Intel spokesperson for STEM education, and at U.C. Davis she established the Diane Bryant endowed scholarship fund for Diversity in Engineering.

She was elected to the United Technologies Corp. board of directors in December, 2016.

She attended the Stanford Executive Program and holds four U.S. patents.

In May 2017, Bryant left her role at Intel due to “family matters” in what was described as a temporary departure. However, on November 30, 2017, Google announced that Bryant would be joining Google Cloud as Chief Operating Officer, and Intel announced her retirement effective December 1, 2017.